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ISTANBUL & EPHESUS (6 Nights / 7 Days)
Itinerary: Istanbul / Kusadasi
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Package prices (per person and in USD) from: |
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2 participants |
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$ 2,345.00 |
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4 participants |
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$ 1,585.00 |
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6 participants |
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$ 1,365.00 |
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| 10 participants |
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$ 1,180.00 |
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| DAY 01 |
Arrival in Istanbul |
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Arrive at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul. Meet your guide and transfer to The Central Palace Hotel. This charming boutique hotel is located in the modern city center – just within a few minutes walk from Taksim Square and Istiklal Street.
Upon arrival enjoy a welcome briefing and orientation walking tour of the hotel area. Your guide will lead you through Taksim area and show you near-by restaurants, gift shops and the like. The rest of the day is at leisure
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Overnight: at The Central Palace Hotel in Istanbul (see hotel's pictures:
exterior ,
guest room)
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| Included meals: - |
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After breakfast at the hotel, depart for full day sightseeing tour of the old city. The tour includes all significant sites of the city: the ancient Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace Museum and the Grand Bazaar. Upon the end of the tour your guide will help you to find the place for lunch on your own.
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Hippodrome: The ancient Hippodrome is an enormous public entertainment arena that once seated as many as 100.000 zealous fans witnessing chariot races, executions, and mock battles.
Once the centre of Byzantine civic life, it is still decorated by the Egyptian Obelisk, the Bronze Serpentine Column, and the Column of Constantine.
Blue Mosque: Built between 1609 and 1616, the Sultan Ahmet Mosque is more familiarly known as the Blue Mosque because its interior gleams with magnificent panels of blue and white 17th Century Iznik tiles. Located near Topkapi Palace, it was considered the Supreme Imperial Mosque during Ottoman Istanbul.
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Hagia Sophia: This famous basilica was constructed in the 6th century A.D. It is often described as the greatest work of Byzantine architecture. Once the Church of Holy Wisdom, Christendom’s crowning glory, and now a museum, it glittered with mosaics, and art treasures filled every corner. Today, Haiga Sophia is the forth largest building made as a church in the world. It was dedicated to the Hagia Sophia which means the Divine Wisdom, an attribute of Christ. |
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Topkapi Palace Museum: Topkapi was the second palace built in Istanbul after the conquest. It was a residence for the Ottoman Sultans and includes a maze of opulent buildings which were at the center of the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and 19th centuries. This palace, where the sultans and their courts and harem lived and governed, is now one of the world’s richest museums.
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For a lunch break we recommend Konyali restaurant, located within the Topkapi Palace Complex and serving traditional meals of Ottoman cuisine.
Grand Bazaar: The area of the Grand Bazaar was a trade center during the Byzantine period. Two bedestens (domed masonry structures) were built by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror to enrich the economic life in the city. Later on as people needed more places for trade, they added other buildings outside these structures.
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Today, the atmosphere of the Grand Bazaar is very interesting and has consequently become a very popular place for visitors to explore a labyrinth of streets and passages housing eighteen entrances and more than 4,000 shops. |
| In late afternoon, return to the hotel for some time at leisure. |
Overnight: at The Central Palace Hotel in Istanbul
Included meals: B |
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After breakfast at the hotel, meet with your guide and depart for a full-day sightseeing tour featuring the Spice Market, a Bosphorus cruise by public boat, and authentic city quarters located on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus Strait.
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After crossing Golden Horn Bay, which separates the modern and historical parts of the city, we will visit the Spice Market which was built as part of the Yeni Cami complex and has since been an exciting covered market filled with the fragrant scent of spices from the Orient. |
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Next, we will embark on a public boat and start our cruise of the Bosphorus Strait. The Bosphorus is a narrow, navigable strait between Europe and Asia connecting the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea. It is about 20 miles long and varies between one-half and one and one half miles wide. This boat ride takes you past the late Ottoman Palaces, Dolmabahce and Beylerbeyi, as well as beautiful wooden mansions and modern villas of the 19th & 20th centuries which form this elegant section of the city. |
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We will disembark at Anadolu Kavagi, a former fishermen’s village, located at the Black Sea entrance of the Bosphorus Strait. This place is famous for its seafood restaurants, and we suggest that you have lunch on your own at one of them and order from their fresh fish menu. After lunch, we will take a walk to the ruins of Yoros Castle located on top of the hill. The castle was built by Genoese settlers and dates back to 1190. The location also presents unparalleled views of the Black Sea and the Bosphorus. |
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Then we will be picked up by our vehicle, and continue with a panoramic drive along the Asian coast of the Bosphorus. En route we will visit the picturesque seaside towns of Kanlica and Cengelkoy. Kanlica is a typical, humble Bosphorus district, famous for it’s authentic buildings and for it’s yogurt. Cengelkoy is one of the oldest and nicest residential districts along the Bosphorus. |
In Cengelkoy many mansions and summer residences were built during the Ottoman period and some of them still exist. Cengelkoy is also famous for its orchards.
We will return back to the European part of the city via the Bosphorus Bridge and transfer to the hotel for an evening at leisure. |
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Overnight: at The Central Palace Hotel in Istanbul
Included meals: B |
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| DAY 04 |
Istanbul / Kusadasi |
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| This morning after breakfast you will check out and transfer to Istanbul Airport where you will board your flight to Izmir. Upon arrival, meet with your local guide and transfer to Kusadasi. |
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Kusadasi, which means “Bird Island” is set in a superb gulf and is known for its sparkling water, broad sandy beaches and large marina with the capacity for 600 boats. We will check-in at the Kismet Hotel, which is located on a peninsula that protrudes into the Aegean Sea like a cruise-ship, and guests are at the center of it all - delightful, year-round sun, gentle breezes, proud pines and swaying palms, colorful spring and summer flowers and the unmistakable perfume of white jasmine. |
| Add to this picture the magnificent turquoise of the Aegean Sea, for swimming, cruising and diving. All 100 rooms have balconies, views of the sea and many amenities. |
| After check-in – time at leisure. |
Overnight: at Kismet Hotel in Kusadasi (see hotel's pictures:
exterior ,
guest room)
Included meals: B
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After breakfast at the hotel, meet with your guide and start a full day tour of the famous Ephesus sites. During the tour, you will visit the Ephesus ancient site, the House of the Virgin Mary, the Ephesus Archeology Museum and have a lecture and demonstration about carpet making at Sultanköy village |
Ephesus Ancient Site: As the capital of Roman Asia Minor, Ephesus is still richly endowed with marble temples, mosaics and a 25,000-seat Great Theater. The city, whose wealth and patronage supported its splendid architectural program, was dedicated to the goddess Artemis, and her enormous temple was once considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. |
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The House of the Virgin Mary: On Bulbul Dag (Nightingale Mountain) there is the House of the Virgin Mary where it's believed that she passed the last years of her life and died. The Virgin Mary came to Ephesus together with St. John and was taken up to Panaghia Kapulu Mountain to survive the Roman persecutions. Now the House of the Virgin Mary is recognized as a shrine by the Vatican. |
After these visits, we will drive to a nice local village. Here we will have our included grilled lunch and also become acquainted with local crafts of the area. At the end of the lunch a lecturer will tell us about all aspects of local crafts, such as rug-weaving. You will also be able to see the demonstration performed by local craftsmen.
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Next, we will continue to the town of Selcuk and visit the Ephesus Archeology Museum. Almost all of the exhibits are findings from Ephesus, the most spectacular being two life-size statutes of Artemis Ephesia, both of them dating from the middle Roman imperial era.
Upon the end of the tour, we will return to the hotel and have an evening at leisure. |
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Overnight: at Kismet Hotel in Kusadasi
Included meals: B, L
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Today you may enjoy beautiful Kusadasi on your own or choose to join one of optional full day sightseeing tours.
Overnight: at Kismet Hotel in Kusadasi
Included meals: B
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OPTIONAL PROGRAMS:
Program 1 - PAMUKKALE:
After the breakfast at the hotel, depart for a full day tour of Pamukkale sites. Pamukkale is one of the most interesting places in the world, justly famous not only for the entrancing beauty of its unique geological formations but also for its historical remains.
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It represents a shimmering white cascade, formed by limestone-laden hot springs, which have formed stalactites, potholes and magical fairy-tables. During this tour you will visit Hierapolis ancient site, terraces, Roman Bath, Hierapolis museum and have lunch at local village. |
Hierapolis site: Ancient Hierapolis appears to have been founded by King Eumenes II of Pergamon and its name is derived from Hiera, the wife of King Telephos, the legendary founder of Pergamon. The city became subject to Rome in 133 B.C. In 17 B.C, during the reign of Tiberius it suffered a heavy earthquake that substantially destroyed the city, requiring it to be rebuilt. |
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Terraces: The calcium oxide-rich waters flowing down the southern slope of Caldag located north of the ruins have, over the millennia, built up deposits of white travertine on the plateau thus fully justifying both the site's ancient name of Hierapolis (Holy City) and its modern one of Pamukkale (Cotton Castle). The water is reputed to be beneficial to the eyes and skin and to alleviate the ills of rheumatism, asthma and dermatitis. |
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Roman baths: The first structure one encounters on reaching the plateau is the city baths, which are in a very good state of preservation. The baths are Roman and from the 2nd century A.D.
Hierapolis Museum: Museum is located in several restored chambers of Roman Baths and exhibits archeological finds from Hierapolis, dating from the Hellenistic, Byzantine, and Roman periods.
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Program 2 - MILETUS & DIDYMA:
In the morning after the breakfast, meet with your guide and depart for the tour of Miletus and Didyma ancient sites. Lunch en route is included in the program. |
Miletus ancient site: In ancient times the city stood on the coast and the most famous of Ionian harbors. Herodotus wrote that it was founded by the Cretans and Carians. It was an important Micanean colony towards the middle of 2000 BC, however in the 7th century BC it had more than 80 colonies from the farthest corners of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
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Alexander the great, it became one of the greatest metropolises of Aegean Anatolia and remained its importance during the Roman period as well. In the Byzantine period despite the fact that the sea had withdrawn, the commercial port could still be used thanks to the ships which sailed through the Menderes River. |
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Didyma ancient site: The town formed just outside of the sanctuary containing a temple and oracle of Apollo, the Didymaion. Next to Delphi, Didyma was the most renowned oracle of the Hellenic world, first mentioned among the Greeks in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. |
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After his capture of Miletus in 334 BC Alexander the Great placed the administration of the oracle in the hands of the city of Miletus. In 331 BC the oracle proclaimed Alexander "the son of Zeus". In 300 BC the Milesians embarked on the construction of the largest temple in the Greek world. Although work continued until the middle of the 2nd century AD the temple was never finished. Didyma was connected to Miletus by the Sacred Way, the latter part of which was lined with sarcophagi and statues of lions and sphinxes.
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After breakfast at the hotel transfer to Izmir Airport for connection return flight via Istanbul.
Included meals: B
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PRICES AND CONDITIONS: |
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Prices of the package: (per person in double room, in USD) |
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2 participants |
4 participants |
6 participants |
10 participants |
$ 2,345.00 |
$ 1,585.00 |
$ 1,365.00 |
$ 1,180.00 |
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Price of the package includes:
• Accommodation in hotels :
- Istanbul: The Central Palace Hotel – 3 nights (see hotel's pictures: exterior , guest room)
- Kusadasi : Kismet Hotel – 3 nights (see hotel's pictures:exterior , guest room)
• Domestic flights within our program itinerary (Istanbul-Izmir, Izmir-Istanbul)
• 7 Meals: 6 breakfasts and 1 Lunch
• Services of a professional tour guide and his/her expenses
• Modern, A/C, comfortable minibus for land transportation, and driver’s expenses
• Admission fees to sights and museums
• Parking, portage, tipping (except guide & driver), ferry, toll road
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Price of the package excludes:
• Airfare of international flights and the related taxes
• Bottled beverages or alcohol
• Optional gratuities to trip leaders, drivers.
• Travel insurance
• Visas, laundry, and personal items
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